Proto-Dravidian language
| Proto-Dravidian | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Dravidian languages |
| Region | Eastern Iran, Pakistan, Western India and Deccan Plateau |
| Era | c. 4th–3rd m. BCE |
| Lower-order reconstructions |
|
| Part of a series on |
| Dravidian culture and history |
|---|
 |
| Portal:Dravidian civilizations |
Proto-Dravidian is the
History
As a proto-language, Proto-Dravidian is not itself attested in historical records. Its modern conception is based solely on reconstruction. It is suggested that the language was spoken in the 4th millennium BCE, and started evolving into various branches around 3rd-millennium BCE.[3][full citation needed]
The
According to
According to Franklin Southworth (2005),[5] the Proto-Dravidian vocabulary is characteristic of a rural economy based on agriculture, animal husbandry and hunting. However, there are some indications of a society more complex than a rural one:[6]
- Words for an upper storey and beam
- Metallurgy
- Trade
- Payment of dues (possibly taxes or contributions to religious ceremonies)
- Social stratification
This evidence is not sufficient to determine with certainty the territory of the Proto-Dravidians. These characteristics can be accommodated within multiple contemporary cultures, including:[6]
- 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE Neolithic-Chalcolithic cultures of western Rajasthan, Deccanand other parts of the peninsula.
- Early .
Phonology
Vowels
Proto-Dravidian contrasted between five short and long vowels: *a, *ā, *i, *ī, *u, *ū, *e, *ē, *o, *ō. The sequences *ai and *au are treated as *ay and *av (or *aw).[10]
Consonants
Proto-Dravidian has been reconstructed as having the following consonant phonemes:[11][12][13]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex
|
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals | *m | *n | (*ṉ)[a] | *ṇ | *ñ | ||
| Plosive | *p | *t | *ṯ | *ṭ | *c | *k | |
| Semivowel | *w | *y | *H | ||||
| Rhotic | *r | *ẓ[b] | |||||
| Lateral | *l | *ḷ |
The singular alveolar plosive *ṯ developed into an alveolar trill /r/ in many of the South and South Central languages, it later merged with the tap in many of them; Tulu has /d͡ʒ, d̪, ɾ/ as reflexes, Manda-Kui made it /d͡ʒ/ and Hill-Maria Gondi made it /ʁ/. *ṯṯ and *nṯ became /r̥, nr/ in Konda and [tr, ndr] in many Tamil dialects. Apart from them, other languages did not rhotacize it, instead either preserving them or merging it with other sets of stops like dentals in Kannada, retroflexes in Telugu or palatals in Manda-Kui and some languages of Kerala.[14] Central made all alveolars dental which is one of the features distinguishing it from South Central branch and North made it /r, s/.[13][15] For example, Tamil āṟu, Tulu āji, Naiki sādi, Kui hāja; Tamil puṟṟu, Tulu puñca, Kannada huttu, Naiki puṭṭa, Konda puRi, Malto pute; Tamil onṟu, Tulu oñji, Pengo ronje, Brahui asi.
Velar nasal *ṅ occurred only before *k in Proto-Dravidian (as in many of its daughter languages). Therefore, it is not considered a separate phoneme in Proto-Dravidian. However, it attained phonemic status in languages like Malayalam, Gondi, Konda and Pengo because the original sequence *ṅk was simplified to *ṅ or *ṅṅ.[16]
The glottal fricative *H has been proposed by Krishnamurti (2003) to account for the Old Tamil Aytam (Āytam) and other Dravidian comparative phonological phenomena.
P.S. Subrahmanyam reconstructs 6 nasals for PD compared to 4 by Krishnamurti, who also does not reconstruct a laryngeal.[17]
The Northern Dravidian languages Kurukh, Malto and Brahui cannot easily be derived from the traditional Proto-Dravidian phonological system. McAlpin (2003) proposes that they branched off from an earlier stage of Proto-Dravidian than the conventional reconstruction, which would apply only to the other languages. He suggests reconstructing a richer system of dorsal stop consonants:
| Early Proto-Dravidian | Late Proto-Dravidian (Proto-Non-North Dravidian) |
Proto-Kurukh-Malto | Brahui |
|---|---|---|---|
| *c | *c | *c | |
| *kʲ | *c | *k | k |
| *k | *k | *k | k |
| *q | *k | *q | x k / _i(ː) |
Numerals
Vocabulary
Crop plants
Below are some crop plants that have been found in the Southern Neolithic complex of
| Common name | Scientific name | Reconstruction level | Proto-form | Gloss of proto-form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
horsegram |
Macrotyloma uniflorum | Late Proto-Dravidian | *koḷ | horsegram
|
green gram |
Vigna radiata |
Late Proto-Dravidian | *pac-Vt/Vl | green gram
|
black gram |
Vigna cf. mungo; Vigna trilobata | Late Proto-Dravidian | *uẓ-untu, *min(t) | black gram
|
hyacinth bean |
Lablab purpureus |
Proto-Tamil | *ava-rai | Dolichos lablab
|
pigeonpea |
Cajanus cajan |
Late Proto-Dravidian | *tu-var | pigeonpea
|
| Common name | Scientific name | Reconstruction level | Proto-form | Gloss of proto-form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
browntop millet |
Brachiaria ramosa |
Late Proto-Dravidian | *conna-l | sorghum |
| bristly foxtail | Setaria verticillata | Late Proto-Dravidian | *kot-V | Setaria italica
|
sawa millet |
Echinochloa cf. colona | |||
| yellow foxtail | Setaria pumila | |||
little millet |
Panicum sumatrense | |||
kodo millet |
Paspalum scrobiculatum | Proto-South Dravidian | *(v)ār/ar-Vk | pearl millet |
| millet | Pennisetum glaucum |
Proto-South Dravidian | *kam-pu | bulrush millet
|
| finger millet | Eleusine coracana |
Proto-South Dravidian | *ira(k) | ragi |
| Common name | Scientific name | Reconstruction level | Proto-form | Gloss of proto-form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| barley | Hordeum vulgare |
|||
| wheat | Triticum |
Late Proto-Dravidian? | *kūli | wheat |
| rice | Oryza sp. | Late Proto-Dravidian? | *(v)ar-iñci | rice |
| Common name | Scientific name | Reconstruction level | Proto-form | Gloss of proto-form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| jujube | Zizyphus sp. |
Late Proto-Dravidian | *irak- | jujube |
| fig | Ficus sp. | Late Proto-Dravidian | *cuv- | fig |
| java plum | cf. Syzygium cumini | Late Proto-Dravidian | *ñēr-al | jambu |
| globe cucumber | Cucumis cf. prophetarum | |||
| luffa | cf. Luffa cylindrica |
Late Proto-Dravidian | *pīr | |
| flax | Linum usitatissimum |
Proto-South Dravidian | *ak-V-ce | |
| cotton | Gossypium sp. | Proto-South Dravidian | *par-utti | |
| okra | Abelmoschus sp. | |||
| parenchyma fragments | Early Proto-Dravidian | *kic-ampu | ||
| date palm | Phoenix sp. | Early Proto-Dravidian | *cīntu |
| Common name | Scientific name | Reconstruction level | Proto-form | Gloss of proto-form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| onion/garlic | Allium sp. | Early Proto-Dravidian | *uḷḷi | |
| eggplant | Solanum sp. | Early Proto-Dravidian | *vaẓ-Vt | |
| sesame | Sesamum indicum |
Late Proto-Dravidian | *nū(v)- | sesame |
| sugarcane | Saccharum sp. | Early Proto-Dravidian | *cet-Vkk | |
| hemp | Cannabis sp. | Late Proto-Dravidian ? | *boy-Vl |
Basic vocabulary
Basic vocabulary of Proto-Dravidian selected from Krishnamurti (2003):[18]
| gloss | Proto-Dravidian |
|---|---|
| one | *on-ṯu |
| one (adj.) | *ōr-/*or-V- |
| two | *īr/*ir-V |
| three (adj.) | *muH-/*mū- |
| four (adj.) | *nāl/*nal-V- |
| five (adj.) | *cay-m- |
| six (adj.) | *caṯ-V |
| seven (adj.) | *eẓ-V |
| eight (adj.) | *eṇ |
| nine, 9/10 | *toḷ-/*toṇ- |
| ten minus one | *on-patV |
| ten (adj.) | *paH- |
| head, hair, top | *tal-ay |
| cheek | *kap-Vḷ |
| eye | *kaṇ |
| eyeball | *kuṭ-V/*kuṇṭ-V |
| ear | *kew-i |
| nose, beak | *mū-nk(k)u/-nc- |
| tooth | *pal |
| mouth[a] | *wāy |
| hand, arm | *kay |
| leg, foot | *kāl |
| heart, kidney | *kuṇṭV |
| liver | *taẓ-Vnk-/-nkk |
| milk, breast | *pāl |
| bone | *el-V-mp/-nk |
| bone marrow | *mūḷ-V- |
| excrement | *piy/*pī |
| house | *il |
| husband | *maẓc-a- |
| man, husband | *māy-tt-/*mā-cc- |
| woman | *peṇ |
| name | *pin-cc-Vr |
| sky | *wān-am |
| sun | *en-ṯ- |
| sun | *pōẓ/*poẓ-u-tu |
| moon, moonlight | *nel-a-nc/-ncc |
| month | *nel-V- |
| star | *cukk-V |
| star | *miHn |
| cloud | *muy-il |
| water | *nīr |
| river, stream | *yĀtu |
| lake | *kuḷ-am/-Vnc- |
| sea, ocean | *kaṭ-al |
| stone | *kal |
| wind | *waḷi |
| day | *nāḷ |
| night | *nāḷ/*naḷ-V- |
| year | *yAṇṭ-u |
| tree | *mar-am/-an |
| fruit, pod | *kāy |
| forest | *kā(-n), kā-ṭu |
| grass | *pul |
| thatched grass | *pīr |
| dog | *naH-ay/-att/-kuẓi |
| animal, beast, deer | *mā |
| deer | *kur-V-c- |
| tiger | *pul-i |
| rat | *el-i |
| snake | *pāmpu |
| meat | *iṯ-ay-cci |
| meat | *ū/*uy |
| oil, ghee | *ney |
| fish | *mīn |
| louse | *pēn |
| mosquito | *nuẓ-Vḷ/-nk- |
| wing | *ceṯ-ank-/-ankk- |
| black | *cir- |
| white | *weḷ/*weṇ |
| red | *kem |
| sweet (adj./n.) | *in- |
| sour | *puḷ- |
| bitter; bitterness | *kac (> kay) |
| to eat, drink | *uHṇ-/*ūṇ- |
| to eat | *tiHn- |
| to come | *waH-/*waH-r |
| to walk | *naṭ-a |
| to give | *ciy-/*cī- |
| to die | *caH- ~ *ceH- |
| to sleep | *kū-r- |
| to sleep | *tuñc- |
| to count | *eṇ |
- ^ Also 'edge, beak, mouth of vessel, aperture, blade of sword'.
See also
References
- ^ Andronov 2003, p. 299.
- ^ Krishnamurti 2003, p. 492.
- OCLC 11579254.
- ^ a b McIntosh 2008, p. 353.
- ^ a b Southworth 2005.
- ^ a b McIntosh 2008, p. 353-354.
- ^ Parpola & Parpola 1975, p. 217-225.
- ^ McIntosh 2008, p. 354.
- ^ Ansumali Mukhopadhyay 2021.
- ^ Baldi 1990, p. 342.
- ^ Subrahmanyam 1983, p. 40.
- ^ Zvelebil 1990.
- ^ a b Krishnamurti 2003.
- ^ http://www.languageinindia.com/july2013/ravisankarkeralatriballanguages.pdf
- ^ https://www.tamildigitallibrary.in/admin/assets/book/TVA_BOK_0012142_Dravidian_comparative_phonology.pdf
- ^ Subrahmanyam 1983.
- ^ Prema, S.; Sreekumar, P. "Professor P. S. Subrahmanyam, (1939-2016) the distinguished Dravidian linguist: A short profile and his publications".
- ^ Krishnamurti 2003, p. [page needed].
Works cited
- Andronov, Mikhail Sergeevich (2003). A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-04455-4.
- Ansumali Mukhopadhyay, Bahata (December 2021). "Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization: ultraconserved Dravidian tooth-word reveals deep linguistic ancestry and supports genetics". Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 8 (1): 193. S2CID 236901972.
- ISBN 3-11-011908-0.
- Fuller, Dorian Q. (2007). "Non-human genetics, agricultural origins and historical linguistics in South Asia". The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. pp. 393–443. ISBN 978-1-4020-5561-4.
- ISBN 978-1-139-43533-8.
- McAlpin, David W. (2003). "Velars, Uvulars and the Northern Dravidian hypothesis". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 123 (3): 521–546. JSTOR 3217749.
- McIntosh, Jane (2008). The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-907-2.
- Parpola, Asko; Parpola, Simo (1975). "On the relationship of the Sumerian toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit mleccha". Studia Orientalia. 46: 205–238.
- Southworth, Franklin C. (2005). Proto-Dravidian Agriculture (PDF). 7th ESCA Round Table Conference, Kyoto, June 2005.
- Subrahmanyam, P.S. (1983). Dravidian Comparative Phonology. Annamalai University.
- Zvelebil, Kamil (1990). Dravidian Linguistics: An Introduction. Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture.
Further reading
- Andronov, M. (1964). "Lexicostatistic analysis of the chronology of disintegration of proto-Dravidian". Indo-Iranian Journal. 7 (2): 170–186. S2CID 161229771.
- Blažek, Václav (2009). "Dravidian numeral" (PDF). Journal of Language Relationship. 1: 69–80.
- Chandrasekaran, Periannan (7 January 2016). "Pleonastic Compounding: An Ancient Dravidian Word Structure". Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 18 (1): 1–59 Seiten. .
- Emeneau, M. B. (April 1988). "Proto-Dravidian *c- and Its Developments". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 108 (2): 239–268. JSTOR 603651.
- Kobayashi, Masato (2021). "Viewing Proto-Dravidian from the Northeast". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 140 (2): 467–482. S2CID 226670756..
- Kolipakam, Vishnupriya; Jordan, Fiona M.; Dunn, Michael; Greenhill, Simon J.; Bouckaert, Remco; Gray, Russell D.; Verkerk, Annemarie (March 2018). "A Bayesian phylogenetic study of the Dravidian language family". Royal Society Open Science. 5 (3): 171504. S2CID 4844024.
- Sankaran, C. R. (1939). "Reconstruction of the Proto-Dravidian Pronouns". Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. 1 (1): 96–105. JSTOR 42929233.
- S2CID 12983737.
- Subramoniam, V. I. (1968). "A Problem in the Reconstruction of the Proto Dravidian Nasal Phonemes". Pratidanam: Indian, Iranian, and Indo-European studies presented to Franciscus Bernardus Jacobus Kuiper on his sixtieth birthday. pp. 344–358. ISBN 9783112415306.
- Subrahmanyam, P.S. (2006). "Proto-Dravidian Short, High, and Mid Vowels: Mergers in South Dravidian and Telugu-Kuwi". Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. 66/67: 291–303. JSTOR 42931454.
- Wells, Bryan K.; Fuls, Andreas (2015). "Proto-Dravidian and the Indus Script". The Archaeology and Epigraphy of Indus Writing. Archaeopress. pp. 77–99. JSTOR j.ctvr43jmf.14.
External links
- T. Burrow (1984). Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-864326-5. Retrieved 2008-10-26.